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The DanceView Times, Washington, D.C. edition

       Volume 1, Number 10   An online supplement to DanceView magazine

Dancing to Tchaikovsky

All Tchaikovsky Evening
Suzanne Farrell Ballet
Eisenhower Theater
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

[December 2-7, 2003]
December 2, 2003

by Alexandra Tomalonis
copyright © 2003 by Alexandra Tomalonis

“For dancing, always Tchaikovsky,” Balanchine is said to have said once, and Tchaikovsky’s music certainly figures prominently in his work. From Serenade, the first ballet he choreographed in America, to Mozartiana, which received its premiere at the New York City Ballet’s Tchaikovsky Festival in 1981, Tchaikovsky’s music inspired some of Balanchine’s most beautiful ballets.

Both these works, as well as the Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux and “Tempo di Valse,” a/k/a The Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker, made up the Suzanne Farrell Ballet's opening night program. The company is part of the Kennedy Center’s own Tchaikovsky Festival that will include the Kirov Ballet and Opera at the end of the month. Washington has been privileged to watch Farrell’s small company grow. This year is the first time we’ve seen it at the end, rather than the beginning, of its season (it's just come home from a tour) and, in Serenade especially, Farrell’s group of in-between-jobs and off-season dancers really looked like a company and not a workshop group.
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9th Annual DC International Improvisation Plus+ Festival kicks off the weekend of December 5th.

We have a specail forum in the DanceView Times section at Ballet Alert! where participants and spectators can post reviews and comments, exchange views, about the festival.  You'll have to register, but it's free, and it only takes about a minute.

Come to:  DC Improv Festival Forum

The first weekend will feature international artists Eszter Gal and Istvan Grensco from Hungary; New York-based Jennifer Nugent with Bessie-award winning performer Paul Matteson— both members of David Dorfman's company; Seattle-based artists Cyrus Khambatta, Sean Ryan and KT Niehoff; and Maida Withers.

The second weekend celebrates the local community: Cathy Paine, who founded ran the New Dance Improvisation Festival and Beth Davis, who runs Glen Echo Park's Hall of Mirrors, along with Daniel Burkholder and Jennifer Lee Clark Stone, both of whom have improvisation based companies; Sharon Mansur—well known for her use of improvisation in her work—as well as Jane Jerardi and Brian Buck, founder members of the Monday Night Improv Laboratory.

There will also be two FREE site-specific works, one on the Metro, and one at the Friendship Heights Borders.  More details next week!

What's On This Week

Dec. 2-7
Suzanne Farrell Ballet
Once George Balachine’s muse, Suzanne Farrell brings her company back to D.C. for a series of classical ballet performances as part of the Kennedy Center’s Tchaikovsky Festival. Featured ballets include Serenade, a revival of the divertissement from Don Quixote, and a program of pas de deux..
Eisenhower Theater
Kennedy Center
1-800-444-1324

Dec. 4 –5
Making Dances/Taking Chances: Songs of My Lif
e
Daniel Singh, a MFA candidate at University of Maryland, presents a performance incorporates dance and theater in his examination of popular culture and its effects on Generation X.
Clarice Smith Center – Dance Theater
University of Maryland
301-405-2787

Dec. 4-6
GMU Dance Company
George Mason University’s dance company holds its December concert. The concert will be held in Dance Performance Studio, so seating is limited.
Performing Arts Building
George Mason University
703-993-2787

Dec. 5-6
Washington, D.C. 9th International Improvisation Festival
Festival founder and George Washington University dance chair, Maida Withers, assembles another wild weekend of improvisation dance. Featured performers include Alex Caldiero, Peter Fraize, Jennifer Nugent, Paul Matteson, Katia Chupashko and Withers. In addition to the evening performances, GW and other area colleges are participating in the University Fringe Festival on Saturday. A day of workshops taught by local, national and international professionals ends with a Fringe Performance and Jam for dances and musicians.
Dorothy Betts Theater – Marvin Center
George Washington University
202-994-6178

Dec. 6-7
The Nutcracker
The Olney Children’s Ballet presents its annual production of the holiday favorite. Featuring a cast of more than 60 dancers , this is the first time Olney Children’s Theater Nutcracker will be performing at the University of Maryland.
Clarice Smith Center – Tawes Theater
University of Maryland
301-405-2787

Dec. 6-7
A Choreography Showcase
Seven young D.C. choreographers will debut new works through the Joy of Motion Dance Project. Choreographers include Meisha Bosma, Jennifer Dorsey, Melanie George, Kelly Kunst, Josephine Nicholson, Erika Schonemann and Katrina Toews.
Jack Guidone Theater
5207 Wisconsin Ave., NW
202-362-3042

Dec. 6-7
Carla & Company
Carla Perlo, Dance Place artistic/executive director, incorporates modern dance and pedestrian movement in a performance that will bring the audience to the dance. The performance also features works by the Dance Place Moving Company and the Dance Place Adult Repertory & Performance Class.
Dance Place
3225 8th St., NE
202-269-1600

—Liz Bartolomeo


A public service announcement:

Be part of the process. Nominate for the 2004 Metro DC Dance Awards today.
To make a nomination, and for information about the awards, visit
www.metro-dc-dance-awards.com

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This weeks' articles

 

DanceViewNY
Mindy  Aloff's Letter from New York

The Balanchine Celebration
New York City Ballet:
A Veteran and a Raw Recruit
by Mindy Aloff

Heart and Soul
by Mary Cargill

Kid Stuff
Cas Public's If You Go Down To the Woods Today
by Susan Reiter

DanceViewWest
San Francisco Ballet:
New Wheeldon (Rush)
by Rita Felciano

New Tomasson (7 For Eight)
by Paul Parish

Possokhov's New Firebird for OBT
by Rita Felciano

Moscow Festival Ballet and Scott Wells
by Paul Parish

DanceViewDC
Hamburg Ballet's Nijinsky:
Nijinsky—Lost in the Chaos
by Clare Croft

NijinskyMadness and Metaphor
by Alexandra Tomalonis

Nijinsky and the Ballets Russes
by George Jackson

Batsheva: Breaking Down Walls
by Lisa Traiger

Ronald K. Brown/Evidence
by Clare Croft

Choreographers Showcase
by Tehreema Mitha

Zoltan Nagy
by George Jackson

 

 

 

 

Writers

Clare Croft
George Jackson
Jean Battey Lewis
Sali Ann Kriegsman
Tehreema Mitha

Alexandra Tomalonis (Editor)
Lisa Traiger

DanceView

The Autumn DanceView is out:

New York City Ballet's Spring 2003 season reviewed by Gia Kourlas

An interview with the Kirov Ballet's Daria Pavlenko by Marc Haegeman

Reviews of San Francisco Ballet (by Rita Felciano) and Paris Opera Ballet (by Carol Pardo)

The ballet tradition at the Metropolitan Opera (by Elaine Machleder)

Reports from London (Jane Simpson) and the Bay Area (Rita Felciano).

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last updated on October 27, 2003 -->